ABSTRACT
Syndrome differentiation and treatment is a traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）-featured concept and method in diagnosis and treatment， which needs to be combined with the intelligent diagnosis of TCM in the future. At present， the intelligent diagnosis of TCM has gradually changed from the simple data-driven primary intelligence to the knowledge-driven advanced intelligence that integrates professional knowledge. Although syndrome element differentiation breaks down the elements of TCM diagnostic knowledge to form syndrome elements， which makes the original vague knowledge information more specific， the relationship between syndrome elements is not well classified and sorted out， resulting in the lack of hierarchical relationship and connection between syndrome elements， and thereby causing obstacles to the application of intelligent technology. Based on the understanding of etiology and pathogenesis from TCM， this paper concretized the syndrome element set of etiology， disease location and disease nature in TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment， and formed a knowledge framework system of syndrome elements with clear logical relationship， clear hierarchy and good explanation， thereby providing certain reference for realizing knowledge-driven advanced intelligence syndrome differentiation in the future.